City of Eureka’s Validation Action and Reverse Class Action Lawsuit

People of Eureka! You Are About to Be Stripped of Your Constitutional Right to Vote – Forever!

Quietly on election night the Eureka City Council passed by 5-0 vote an ordinance to send a so-called “validation” action to the local Superior Court, in essence filing a class action lawsuit against all Eureka residents. The purpose of the action is to “validate” the sale of 10 year “Pension Obligation Bonds” that will refund the current short term obligation due CalPERS but also to circumvent the requirement in the Constitution of the State of California that debt of term longer than one year must be approved by 2/3 majority of the citizens. If this “validation” action goes forward, and some local Humboldt judge rubber stamps it, then you and all your fellow Eurekans will FOREVER be denied the right to vote on ANY PENSION OBLIGATION BONDS OF ANY TERM, TYPE, OR DURATION. This is a ponzi scheme and its desperation hints at severe financial problems ahead for the city of Eureka. It is a long step down the road to municipal bankruptcy.

One weak justification the Council gave for denying Eureka residents the right to vote on the bonds was to save the taxpayers the cost of a special election. Compared to the “fees” of almost a half million $ to be paid to the financial parasites. Um Hmm.

Oh and in case you weren’t aware of it, you were sued too. It’s a rare unusual reverse class action lawsuit where the “class” are the defendants. (That’s right, you and me.)

I filed an “answer” against the suit. Now I must pay a filing fee of $435 by Jan. 17th, so I need donations to help with that. We need to address the issue of how the poor and the modest of means access the legal system. It seems like the rich and powerful have no problems with it.

I need some help, but it can’t divert help from the Eureka Fair Wage Act either. That is critical.

I may have been the only one in the city who answered it, I don’t know. I would like some pro bono legal help. I have a few arguments I want to make against this legal blackmail but I am not a lawyer and don’t have much experience in court.

This issue of kicking the can down the road and making future generations pay for our stuff. I hate it. I want to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren. We cannot wage war on future generations!

Yes I am aware that this issue cuts across normal political and party divides.

People may disagree over how good a deal these bonds are. I think they are a shitty deal that will cost the taxpayers over a million dollars more than simply paying off calPers in five years. Plus it will needlessly funnel almost a half million dollars in “fees” to Wall St. parasites. Its ok if you disagree with me on this.

The point is that I believe the people both do and must have the right to vote their approval up and down on this kind of long term bond. If we get to vote on these and the voters approve them, I won’t have any complaint. I will still think they are shitty bonds, but the voters will have spoken.

If you can help me in this please email me @ humboldt.organizer@gmail.com Without your help it will be hard to continue, unless someone unknown to me has also filed an answer. Again I need a few $ for fling fees and if possible some pro bono legal help.

Thanks,

Bill Holmes

Answer to the Unconstitutional Actions of the City of Eureka – Pension Obligation Bond Validation

imagine the audacity of a city council,

a city manager and a city attorney,

willing to sue all the citizens of the city

and anyone else who has an interest

all in order to circumvent the Constitution of

the State of California

Because they know damn well that the citizens

will not approve this bullshit bond issue.

what they are trying to do is convince a judge and everyone else that short term obligations owed to CalPERS are “bonds” that can be refunded without voter approval as is required under the Constitution of the State of California. These are not bonds that are being refunded. This is fiction.

Refinancing short term obligations with long term bonds defines fiscal irresponsibility and is indicative of serious problems in the finances of the City of Eureka.

At the very least the voters of Eureka should be given the chance to vote on this bond issue.

They have said that they don’t want to vote because of the “cost to the taxpayers” of an election. Yet, they are going to pay some Wall St. parasites almost $500,000 in fees to float this bullshit bond issue.